Protective adhesive paste preparations for use with ostomy appliances are known and widely used by ostomates. Such preparations are commonly formulated with karaya gum or other hydrocolloid gums. The gums in powder form are mixed with an alcohol or other organic solvent solution of an adhesive film-forming resin. Preparations of this general kind are described in British Pat. No. 1,430,515, and have been sold commercially in the United States and other countries for a number of years.
When the person wearing the ostomy appliance (the ostomate) has difficulty in maintaining a liquid-tight seal between the ostomy appliance and the skin around the stoma an adhesive paste may be of great value. The problem of fluid leakage is aggravated where the skin around the stoma is irregular, or where folds of skin occur in this area. Under such conditions, even though the ostomy device is used with a molded sealing member such as a ring, blanket, or the like, a complete liquid-tight seal cannot be assured. To obtain a more perfect seal the ostomate applies a coating of an adhesive in a ring around the stoma, permits the paste to dry, and then applies the ostomy device. Additional paste may also be applied to the skin-engaging side of the ring or blanket before application.
With ileostomies and colostomies the area around the stoma is exposed to intestinal fluids, which in the case of ileostomies may include gastric juices containing proteolytic enzymes. With urostomies the area around the stoma is exposed to urine. Therefore, in the use of paste preparations, as described above, one problem is that the applied paste is not sufficiently resistant to intestinal fluids or urine. It has been desired to increase the mechanical and adhesive endurance of such adhesive pastes when applied around the stoma, but heretofore no means has been provided for accomplishing this result.
One of the skin irritation problems associated with the use of ostomy appliances is referred to as adhesive trauma, which the stripping of the skin through repeated application and removal of the adhesively-attached ostomy appliance. Adhesive trauma is aggravated by increases in the frequency with which the ostomy device is removed and reapplied. By providing an adhesive paste preparation of greater endurance, it should be possible to reduce the frequency of removal of the ostomy device, thereby reducing skin irritation caused by the skin-stripping effect.